The Final Curtain
by Sergeant Turtle
Summary: Meridian #5 (Finale). Only one clan will rise from the ashes of a twilight war and Clan Hamato know they have to win – but will the price bring a bitter victory? Trust your family. Don't let go. It all ends here. (Rated T for the usual stuff, you know – blood, violence, scariness, emotional distress, etc.)
1. Prologue: Retrospect

**Hello, dear readers! Here's Part Five at last! I AM BACK, PEOPLE! WOOHOO!**

**I don't own anybody mentioned in this chapter. Sad. :(**

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><p><span>Prologue: Retrospect<span>

'So, Agent Bishop – I hear your plan was successful. You are to be congratulated, I believe.'

A silence. Bishop didn't trust himself to speak; instead focusing on hiding the fear that was making his hands tremble.

He was doomed.

'But then again,' continued the voice, 'that was several months ago…'

DOOMED.

'… and there is an air about you that suggests something is not right at all. So tell me, Bishop-'

His head would be on a spike before long and used for target practice by mid-afternoon. With the eyes lasered out. And the mouth stitched up.

'- HOW COULD YOU LET THEM ESCAPE?!'

Karai heard the shouting as she passed by the door, and sighed. Who was it in trouble _this_ time?

Things were changing around Foot headquarters. Training was getting more intense, weapons were being upgraded, and everyone was getting just a little high-strung. Something was brewing.

Something big.

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><p>Mikey flipped through channels to his favourite cartoons, settling back on the couch and yawning as the brightly coloured characters ran across the screen with giant mallets, sticks of dynamite, and silly hats. Last night's patrol had been exhausting. They' leapt around half the city with no sign of Bishop's men or the Foot. By three in the morning they'd given up, and when they got home, Leo had taken one look at them and sent them all straight to bed.<p>

Leo. Poor Leo, who still couldn't venture topside because of the sensory overload he had been experiencing – and the crippling fear he encountered when they ventured through the subway. Who still suffered periodical attacks from his own mind that left him shaky and disoriented.

Mikey had seen the longing, almost hungry look on his big brother's face every time they ran out the door. Many times Don had offered to stay, but Leo would insist that three turtles were better than two. The unspoken "but four would be even better" would always hang in the air for a while. After several weeks, Don decided not to ask anymore, but they could still tell that he missed the wind in his face and the concrete pounding under his feet and the stars over his head.

There was a tinkle of breaking glass from Don's lab and an irritated exclamation. Mike smiled. _Crazy genius. Wonder if he's finished those EMP grenades yet?_

Standing up, he wandered out of the room, leaving the TV blaring. The remote lay on the arm of the couch for several minutes before a new green hand swept it up and switched the set off. 'Never one to worry about electricity, are you, Mikey?' mused a gentle voice. 'Suppose that's more Donnie's department, hey?'

Leo smiled as a flow of lively chatter emerged from the lab. His twin must have agreed to one of Mikey's strange ideas for a new – and most likely dangerous – mode of transport. That, or his baby brother was actually daring to interrupt the genius at work. Which was a bad idea, proved seconds later by the sight of the orange-masked turtle running for his life, covered in a disgusting dark-blue slimy substance.

It would have been funny, if things like this hadn't been happening more often lately; Don's already-legendary temper was under a lot of stress. Leo felt a sudden twinge of guilt – it was partly because of him.

Don emerged from his lab and shot an apologetic look at his twin before going to find Mikey. The sizzle of anger from the genius faded, replaced by an awkward, subdued feeling. The blue-masked turtle shook his head slightly, trying to get rid of the thoughts that were buzzing around like flies. It wasn't easy having to deal with his brother's emotions as well as his own.

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><p>Silence was becoming more and more prevalent in the lair after recent events. The twins in particular were holding back any strong emotions in an effort to reduce the likelihood of one of them losing it. Raph was just his normal surly self, and Mikey, unnerved by the stillness, was unusually quiet most days.<p>

Don knocked gently on his baby brother's door. 'Mikey?'

'Go 'way,' came the whimper from inside, and Don's heart sank. 'Mikey, please let me in.'

'No.'

'Please don't be scared of me, Mikey. Please.'

Mikey's eyes widened at the tone in his brother's voice. _Don_ was the one who sounded scared. Sure, Mikey was upset, but he wasn't scared so why –

_Oh._

_Oh, Donnie, _I _should be the one saying sorry._

The door opened, and Don didn't get a single word out before he found himself with an armful of brother. 'M'sorry, Donnie,' mumbled the smaller turtle into the genius' shoulder. 'I wasn't scared a'you, you know. You're not really that scary, anyway.'

'Don't lie to me, Mikey. Please. It just makes me feel worse.'

Mikey raised his head. 'I'm not lying,' he said, punching his brother lightly in the arm, 'you just don't believe me.'

'Mike –'

'How long is it gonna take for you to realise that you're still just Donatello Hamato, our brother? We know that you would never attack us on purpose – unless we're sparring of course, then you have to attack us, but it wouldn't be dangerous unless we actually hurt you and you went all berserk and –' He clapped both hands over his beak as he realised he'd gone too far _again._ But Don just laughed and ruffled his brother's blonde locks, 'As if you could tag me in sparring – you can hardly get Raph!'

'Hey!'

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><p>The sound of his brothers' laughter rang through the lair, and Leo smiled, closing his eyes to let the healing sound wash over.<p>

Before he collapsed gasping to all fours as pain shot through his head and a patchwork of sounds and images assailed him. It ended with a flash and he forced his eyes open to find himself curled on the floor. His twin was kneeling beside him, frantic. 'Leo? Leo, can you hear me?'

'Donnie…'

'What happened?' Don's voice was panicked. 'Leo, _what did you see?_'

The elder twin met his gaze, fear radiating from his bright silver eyes, and spoke a single word that turned the surrounding air to ice.

'_Him_.'

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><p><strong>And so it begins... evil chuckle<strong>


	2. One: Anomaly

**Hi all! Sorry this took so long, I got stuck and this chapter's a bit short.**

**As always, I am only borrowing.**

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><p><span>One: Anomaly<span>

_Anomaly - noun, an odd, peculiar, or strange condition, situation, quality, etc._

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><p>Raph slipped into the lair, hoping to avoid his older brothers and go to bed. He'd been out all evening, and by the silence, nobody had noticed. There were lights on in the lab and upstairs, though, so someone was awake – probably Donnie, unless he'd fallen asleep at his desk again.<p>

He had made it to the steps when a door creaked and Mikey emerged form the dojo. 'Hey, Raph.'

'Hey, Mikey.'

'Been out?'

Raph sighed. 'Yes.'

'See anything?'

'No.'

There was a silence.

'Mikey, what's wrong?'

'We – we thought – '

Realisation struck like a lightning bolt. 'Leo saw something, didn't he?'

A thousand emotions flew across the younger turtle's face before he launched forward, throwing his arms around his brother's neck and burying his face in Raph's broad shoulder. 'Gods, Raph, we thought somethin' _awful_ had happened to you, but Don didn't wanna leave Leo alone and I couldn't go looking by myself, so we were waiting for ages and it was _horrible_, just the _not knowing_…' His voice cracked, and Raph tightened his hold slightly, one hand moving to card through Mikey's mop of hair.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Donatello appeared, the relief clear in his expression as he laid a hand on Raph's arm. 'Don't vanish like that again.'

'I know. I'm sorry.'

'Who are you and what have you done with Raph?' mumbled Mikey, and the red-masked turtle chuckled, ruffling his brother's blond hair once before releasing the hug. 'You're not who you used to be either.'

'Hate to break up this lovely scene of sentiment – and it's adorable,' drawled a new voice, and they looked up to see Leo leaning on the balcony rail, 'but I believe it is Raphael's turn to do breakfast.' There was no mistaking the twinkle in his eyes – Leo was not above poking some good-natured fun at his brothers. Raph snorted. "Actually, I reckon it's _your_ turn, Leo-nerd-o.'

Leo raised a brow sardonically. 'Me? Cook breakfast? After last time?'

'True. Make up for it by doing sushi tonight since that's one of the few things you're good at.'

'Okay.'

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><p>After breakfast, Raph and Mikey turned on the TV, Don scampered off to the garage, and Leo remained to do the washing up. <em>Ahhh, silence. Wonderful.<em>

There was an explosion from the garage area, and a flash of pain ripped up Leo's arm. The three turtles ran in the direction of the sound, where they found Donatello picking himself up from the concrete, covered in black soot and with a slightly dazed look in his eyes. 'I'm okay, I'm okay, just stunned. Turns out Sanguine aren't completely immune to making mistakes.'

Raph surveyed the twisted, blackened husk of an engine. 'Hell, bro, what did you even _do?_'

'No idea. All the tech around here has been malfunctioning lately, even the light switches. It could be a problem with our wiring, I suppose. I should check on it.'

'Lots'a weird stuff's been happening.'

'Yeah, what's that about, Don?'

'I don't know…'

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><p>'Here, Donnie!' called Raph, pointing the torch beam to a sparking power box. the genius turtle jumped up to the nearby pipe, hanging by his knees to get a good view. 'The whole thing's burned out. What could have caused it? We haven't had a generator overload in years, and the safeguards are still in place. None of this makes any sense!'<p>

'Can ya fix it?'

'Maybe, but I don't even know what the problem is! Everything's just… melted!'

'You can't replace it?'

'The wires, yes, but these fuses? Not a chance, I'd have to steal some, and you know what I think about that.'

'Right. So we're gonna keep havin' issues with the power?'

'Until someone up top finds a problem and comes to fix it.'

'Great.'

There was a spark from the box and a yelp of pain from Donnie. 'Ow! Really not my day,' he mumbled.

'Hey… Donnie?'

The sudden question jolted the inventor out of his thoughts. 'Hm?'

'Are you seein' this?'

'Seeing what?'

Raph looked up, his eyes wide with surprise. 'The ball of blue fire floatin' in the air over there?'

'_What?_'

'There… wait, it's movin'!'

'Quick, follow it!'

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><p>'Where is it goin'?'<p>

'I don't know, but I haven't been down here in months.'

The two turtles scampered after the small fireball, deeper into the sewers.

'Don?'

'Hm?'

'Why'd you want to follow it?'

'Because I paid attention when Splinter taught us about Japanese mythology. It looks like an onibi.'

'A spirit-fire?'

'Yep. It'll lead us somewhere import- oh…' Don trailed off, and Raph followed his gaze to the concrete floor. 'Um, Don? What is that?'

'I have no idea, but I need to copy t down.'

'Then what?'

'We go back to the lair,' replied Don, scribbling furiously, 'and find out what it is, because it sure as hell isn't something that crops up in New York sewers.'


	3. Two: Pavor Nocturnus

**Hello again! Stuff may be moving a bit slower from now on because I'm starting uni next week, but I'm going to finish this story, never fear!  
><strong>

**As always, don't own them. (sigh)**

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><p><span>Two: Pavor Nocturnus<span>

_Pavor nocturnus - noun, a disorder of sleep characterized by a dream of terrifying dimensions far worse than a typical nightmare; night terrors._

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><p>purplegenius27: <em>I've looked in every mythology book we own, every book on Japanese history, my computer's running about five different searches at once, and I still don't know what this thing means or even what it's supposed to be.<em>

redhead_warrior: _What did your chemical analysis tell you?_

purplegenius27: _The material used to draw it is like old-fashioned ink; it's mostly soot. but there are a few strange ingredients that the test doesn't recognise._

redhead_warrior: _Like what?_

purplegenius27: _Well, whatever liquid was used to bind the ingredients , for one. It's not water. And whatever makes it glow is stumping me, too. No radium or high phosphorus content._

redhead_warrior: _It's not extraterrestrial or something?_

purplegenius27: _Hey, that's something I should check. Thanks, April. How's Chile?_

redhead_warrior: _Cold! I have to wear about four layers up in these mountains. I'll bring you some plants and insects (if I can get them through Customs.)_

purplegenius27: _Great. Talk to you soon. I'll get the others on here next time too – Mikey misses his "big sister"._

redhead_warrior: _Awww. ^_^ Bye for now!_

Don closed down the chat session and turned back to his analysis. Placing a red mark beside another anomaly, he scratched his head and scrawled a note beside it.

_Blood?_

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><p>'Come on, come on, over here!'<p>

'No way, I'm gonna sink this one!'

'Not a chance, little brother!'

'Doh! How do you jump so high, dude?'

'Lots of practice. Natural talent.'

'Yeh, whateva, Leo. We're reptiles, jumping shouldn't be our strong point.'

'And yet.'

''Nother round? Mikey can defend this time.'

'Nah. I'd better drag Don out of the lab.'

'Okay. Your loss.'

Leo grinned as his younger brothers began another spirited game of basketball. It seemed like everything was finally gaining some brief semblance of normal again.

Though he still couldn't shake that vision.

He shivered, and stood purposely straighter as he entered his twin's lab. 'Don?'

There was a thud and a yelp of pain as said twin bumped his head on the open drawer of the filing cabinet as he stood up from beneath it. Leo winced in sympathy as Don rubbed his stinging scalp. 'Ow. Hey there.'

'What are you doing?'

'Looking through old research. The answer's got to be somewhere,' replied Don, rummaging in a cardboard box.

'Still haven't figured out the answer to your little mystery, huh? What is it, anyway?'

'Drawing on the table. I think I got most of it correct.'

Leo picked up the notebook and frowned at the intricate circle of symbols. "Wow. Where'd you find it?'

'That old access tunnel that leads to the generators, number… 31, I think.'

The blue-masked ninja looked at his brother in surprise. 'But nobody uses it anymore, not since they built the new routes.'

'That's what's bugging me as well – who _else_ knows about it?'

Leo hummed in agreement, scrutinising the drawing. 'I've seen something like this before.'

Don stood up so fast that he narrowly missed giving himself a concussion again 'Eh? Where?'

'I don't know. It just looks familiar.'

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><p>Night fell, and the turtles forewent patrol for once and collapsed into bed, like one does when it's been one hell of a week. Raph was the first to fall asleep, exhausted from the workout he'd done earlier. Then Leo, who always slept fitfully, followed by Mikey, who'd had far too much sugar that day for any normal being. Don was the last to drift off, his mind whirling as always with theories and ideas.<p>

The clocks in the city marked midnight.

And a noise woke the youngest suddenly, sending him darting into his eldest brother's room, shaking him awake and whispering in Japanese, '_Ani, nanika go soko ni arimasu ka!'_

Leo sprung silently out of bed. What did Mikey mean, something was out there? Across the hall, Don peeked questioningly out of his own door, having heard Mikey's footsteps. The elder twin inclined his head in the direction of the fourth room. Don nodded and went to wake Raph.

With strength in numbers restored, the turtles crept silently downstairs. Raph, grumpy at being woken up, had doubted the point of disturbing a good night's sleep. But one glance towards the eldest ninja had let him know that Leo felt something was off. And he always trusted Leo's instincts.

They were almost never wrong.

The twins were taking the lead down the stairs in absolute silence. Don could see Leo's silver eyes, faintly luminescent; scanning the room, narrowing as he froze in place. The genius slowly crouched to his brother's level, concerned. What could his brother see? '_Anata wa nani imasu ka?'_

_'__Kageki.'_

The others stiffened, blood running ice-cold at Leo's answer. A shadow demon in the lair could not be a good sign, and Leo's next words only served to send adrenaline racing through them, ready to run if necessary.

_'__Sore wa kufukuda…'_

There was a strange noise, like a whisper of piano wires and a slurping sound together. The shadow demon – the _hungry_ shadow demon – had spotted prey, and it was coming for them, fear-inducing mist leaking from its jaws and a disembodied snarl following its movements.

An idea formed in Don's mind. It was a long shot, but…

He stepped out into view. The shadow demon's snarl grew louder as it turned towards him.

Don took a deep breath…


	4. Three: Conduit

**I'm baaaaaack! Sorry this took so long, but the end of my first session at uni was a bit packed. **

**As always, don't own any licensed characters contained within.**

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><p><span>Three: Conduit<span>

_Conduit – noun, an agency or means of access for communication, etc._

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><p>'… And he just <em>snarled right back at it,<em> it was the weirdest idea ever, but it worked!'

Casey howled with laughter as Mikey finished his story, and Don had the grace to look sheepish. 'I know, but it seemed like the best option at the time.'

Raph gave an amused snort. 'Big, scary shadow demons probably aren't used to having their prey _retaliate_.'

'Hm. Everything has a weakness, and I suppose a lot of the time it's a direct result of strength. The _kageki_ is used to causing fear, so when it comes across something that doesn't act scared, it doesn't know what to do and scarpers.'

'Don,' chuckled Leo, shaking his head.

'Yes?'

'You're psychoanalysing a shadow demon.'

'Yeah, something's wrong with me,' laughed the genius, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes, and his twin's brows drew together in a slight frown. Don didn't look half as confident as he sounded.

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><p>'I don't like it.'<p>

'Don't like what?'

'The fact that it ran so quickly.'

The twins were rereading Don's considerable library of history and mythology books, looking for anything they might have missed that could solve the mystery of what Mikey was calling their 'eldritch sewer graffiti'.

'Don, the fact that it ran so quickly is the reason we didn't get _eaten_,' countered Leo.

'It was a shadow demon, Leo. A _shadow demon_. Nine feet tall, oozing darkness and hissing – and it ran from me, five foot eleven and skinny! It _ran_ from _me!_ Tell me that doesn't disturb you!'

Leo thought about this for several seconds. 'It's a little weird, I guess.'

'_A little weird?_ The fact that I could potentially be more terrifying than a _kageki?_ That's not just _a little weird_, Leo!'

Don's voice had risen in pitch to a distressed squeak, and Leo knew from experience that this is when he tended to descend into a flailing panic. 'Donnie. It's okay. Like Raph said – _kageki_ aren't used to prey that don't run screaming or freeze in terror.' He smiled impishly at his brother as he continued, 'And we all know how scary you can get when backed into a corner.'

The genius slowly took in his twin's words, visibly relaxing as he returned to his computer search. 'Thanks, Leo.'

'Anytime.'

'Yo, Leo.'

The twins looked up at the sound of Raph's voice to where the red-masked turtle stood in the doorway. 'Mind if I take Mikey out f'r a run? Li'l nimrod's got way too much energy f'r any real practise today.'

'Sure. Just keep an eye out, you know the Foot are starting to get noisy again.'

'Gotcha.'

Leo couldn't hold back a snicker as Raph left. '"Little nimrod?" He's losing his touch.'

'I think it's more that he's lost the ever-present grumpy face to go with it,' Don replied with a grin.

'I can hear you guys, you know!' came a voice, followed by Mikey's familiar giggle and sing-song teasing. 'Raphie's lost his toooouuch, Raphie's lost his toooouuuch!' he proclaimed loudly, ending with a terrified 'eep!' as Raph growled at him, before the sound of the door signalled their leaving and the lair was quiet again.

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><p>'Leo, "cowabunga" is not a valid word.'<p>

'Damn. All I've got is consonants, and it's not as if I've memorised the book.'

Don tossed the Scrabble word list to his brother and grinned. "You really are just desperate to win a game, aren't you?' Leo gave a "hmph" sound and tossed the list back. 'Can we play something else now?'

'Battleship or chess?'

'… Battleship.'

As they set out the little plastic ships on the boards, Don watched Leo's expression morph into an intriguing mix of determination, exasperation, and something close to boredom.

No matter what he said, no matter how many times he insisted he was fine, Don could tell that his brother was developing a severe case of cabin fever. Not much that could be done to help in that situation. 'I think you should try again.' Leo, only half-listening, replied with a noncommittal grunt. Several seconds later, he frowned. "Hang on. Try what again?'

'Going topside.'

There was a long silence, then – 'May I remind you that last time we tried, you had to practically carry me back to the lair because I had a panic attack? G3.'

'Miss. And yes, vividly. It took you hours to get over that one.' A pause. 'Scared me. C6.'

'Miss. Scared me too. A7.'

'Miss. D3.'

'Hit. Oh!'

'What?'

'I've remembered where I saw it!'

Leo jumped out of his seat and ran out of the lab, returning minutes later with a large and clearly ancient tome. Don turned the mouldering pages in wonder. 'This… this is Sensei's handwriting…'

'He showed me this book once. Master Yoshi's wife, Tang Shen, was a priestess at a nearby temple before she met him. She knew about all sorts of _kami_ and demons, and would tell stories of her encounters with them to Yoshi. Splinter heard many of these stories during his time as a pet, and apparently had several run-ins of his own. This is where he recorded all he knew.'

'Here… there are several pages on _kageki._ And here he records a story of how Tang Shen discovered that demons of this kind enter our world through a portal that they mark – with our mystery symbols! Then they are able to return to the same place if necessary. It says here "_kageki_ and many other forms of demon are drawn to spirit-attuned people, known by some as 'conduits', and may, according to the demon's alignment, attempt to destroy, possess, or bestow a gift upon such a person.'

'The thing is, D, _kageki_, like a lot of other dark-aligned demons, cant just enter this plane of existence. They have to be _summoned._'

Don's eyes widened. 'Oh. That can't be good…'

'Someone called it into this plane. Near the _lair._'

'Someone with the ability to summon shadow demons knows the approximate area of our _home!_'

The sound of the phone broke into their panicked conversation. Dn put down the book and jogged to answer it. 'Hello? …Raph? What happened?'

Leo, listening, felt his heart start to pound louder in his chest. Raph never called in while out on patrol – unless it was an emergency.

Something had happened to Mikey.


	5. Four: Tenebrae

**HEEEEEYYYYYY EVERYBODY, I'M BACK! Sorry this took so long, uni and stuff got in the way. We now return to your regular programming so that we may find out what has happened to our youngest turtle...**

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><p><span>Four: Tenebrae<span>

_noun – from the Latin meaning 'darkness'_

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><p>'Is he hurt?'<p>

_'__Not that I can see, but he's shakin' like a leaf an' he won't stop cryin'.'_

'Where are you?'

_'__At April 'n' Casey's place. Don, he won't tell me what's wrong – he keeps askin' for Leo.'_

'Are you able to get him back home?'

_'__He won't budge, it took me foreva just to get 'im back here.'_

'Probably shock. I'll be right there.'

_'__Good.'_

Don hung up the phone and turned back to his twin. 'Mike's not hurt, according to Raph, but from the sound of it, he's in shock. Something definitely happened, and it wasn't good.'

'Are they safe?' questioned Leo.

'They're at April and Casey's, I'm heading up there now,' replied the genius as he threw several items into his battered old duffel and snatched up his bo staff from beside the doorway.

'I'm coming too.'

Don paused, staring. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

'If we get ambushed…'

'I don't need blades to work my way out of a scrap. And I'm just… not ready to go back to them yet.'

'At least take a pair of sticks.'

'Okay.'

'Let's go then.'

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><p>Don kept a close eye on his brother as they made their way through the dank, shadowed sewers to the nearest subway line. Although Leo seemed more wary than he usually would have been, he appeared to be handling the irrational fear quite well. Maybe this was the opportunity he needed to push past the issues that were keeping him closeted in the lair. Having a brother in trouble was giving Leo an extra jolt of courage.<p>

Maybe he'd finally make it back to the surface tonight.

They left the subway maintenance tunnel several blocks away from April and Casey's apartment. Don ascended the ladder first and cautiously lifted the manhole cover. 'Looks clear. Do you want to go first, or…?'

'No, you go, just… give me a minute.'

The genius nodded assent, climbing out into the alley and leaving the cover open.

Leo took a deep breath. This was it. The furthest he'd been from the lair in weeks. Did the city still look the same?

He took hold of the steel rungs of the ladder. The solid feeling of the cold metal was familiar beneath his hands. Leo looked up to the cutout circle of night sky and gritted his teeth. Climbing to the top as fast as he could, Leo stepped out onto hard concrete and into the myriad sounds and smells of New York. Don smiled at him. 'Ready?'

'…Yeah.'

Up the fire escape and onto the roof. A cool breeze ruffled his black hair, and Leo tilted his head back, a wide grin splitting his face. Opening his eyes, he watched the stars, brighter than ever before. Don's smile widened. The old Leo was coming back. 'Come on, bro. If you can't cheer Mikey up like this, then I'm a salamander.'

Leo turned to face him, then smirked and ran for the edge of the roof. 'Last one there hatched from a rotten egg!'

'Oh, it is _on!'_

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><p>The fire escape gave a slight metallic clang as the twins dropped down from the roof above. Don slid the sash of the window up and hopped inside. 'Hey, guys.' Leo paused at the edge of the frame and looked back out at the skyline for several moments, before smiling and entering the apartment.<p>

His heart sank as he took in the sight of his baby brother, sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket (courtesy of Don's duffel) with two worried older brothers hovering over him. April came in from the kitchen with a glass of water, nearly dropping it in shock when she caught sight of Leo at the window. Raph looked up at her gasp, relief and surprise mingling on his features. 'Leo! You're… back.'

'I suppose that is the best way to describe it. What happened?' the eldest asked as the red-clad turtle came to stand next to him.

'Got ambushed by a Foot patrol,' replied Raph, face set. 'We took 'em out fine, but I found Mike like dis an' wasn't sure what'd gone down. Wasn' hurt, so I brought him here cuz it was closer. His chucks 're missin', though. Couldn't find 'em on the roof.'

Leo returned his gaze to his shivering, crying brother as Raph's words only confirmed his suspicions. 'Oh, Mike…'

Don, having satisfied his doctor's eye with a report of no injuries barring a few superficial grazes, looked up at Leo and inclined his head towards his patient.

The eldest came around to the front of the couch, kneeling in front of where the smallest turtle was seated. 'Mikey.' Two teary bluebell-coloured eyes fluttered open to meet Leo's, before another hiccupping sob escaped Mike's normally cheerful mouth. 'L-Leo?'

'Yeah, baby bro, it's me.'

'You came…?'

'Of course I did,' replied Leo, noticing as he spoke that the others had moved to talk amongst themselves, allowing him to talk to Mikey privately. 'What's wrong, _youkou_?'

'I can't…'

'Mikey,' interrupted Leo, voice firm. "Where did you leave your weapons?'

Another wet sniffle. 'Gone. I can't use them anymore, not anymore…'

'Oh, baby brother…'

'I just can't,' the youngest choked out. Leo only had a second to brace himself for impact before Mikey cannoned into him in his typical Upset Little Brother mode, arms locked tight around Leo's neck and sobs muffled in the eldest's shoulder.

It took a long while for Mikey's tears to subside, and even then he was unwilling to shift from where he was bundled tight in the familiar and comforting embrace of his oldest brother. By the time he had calmed down enough to uncurl himself a little and allow Leo to brush at the still-escaping tears, the exhaustion from the fight and his breakdown was beginning to show. After taking a grateful sip from the glass of water April handed to him, Mikey settled back into Leo's arms, his brother's steady heartbeat lulling him into a doze.

Don and Raph had moved back to the couch, and the leader reached out to run a hand through his younger brother's blonde hair. 'Kids.'

'You're not always willing to talk about your feelings either, Raphael.'

'Yeah, but usually he iz. That's what's got me worried.'

That was when the arrow flew though the open window. All four turtles were instantly alert, Mike snapping awake and Don leaping to slam down the sash.

'Everybody out, now!'

* * *

><p><em><strong>youkou -<strong>_** sunshine (I have this headcanon in Meridian that Leo has these special nicknames for his brothers. The others should turn up in future chapters somewhere.)**


	6. Author's Note

**ATTENTION ALL READERS! THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!**

Unfortunately, I am moving my operations over to AO3. I've found that I like the format and tagging system better. I am currently in the process of moving all the currently-posted chapters over, although that may take a few weeks. Regular uploads will then begin again (well, not _regular_ in timing sense, but you know what I mean).

If you'd like to keep following the stories, hop over to AO3 and look for my username, Sergeant_Turtle!

See you on the other side!

- ST


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